Education Minister Christopher Pyne has left the door open to privatising the nation’s $23 billion of student debt if it’s recommended by the Commission of Audit.

Mr Pyne said on the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night he was open to the idea.

“It’s been floated as an idea; there’s no government policy to do so," Mr Pyne said.

“But even if we did pursue considering that, it wouldn’t be insensible for us to do so. Why would you rule anything like that out?"

The office of Treasurer Joe Hockey has previously said privatising HECS debt is “not current Coalition policy" but made no further comment.

With the government saying it will not pre-judge the outcome of the Commission of Audit by ruling any potential savings in or out, speculation as to what might eventuate from the first whole-of-government audit since 1996 has run rife in recent weeks.

The government has refused to discount the possibility it might look to streamline bureaucracy by consolidating a number of service delivery organisations.

As reported in The Australian Financial Review, it is considering handing the front-office responsibilities of Centrelink to Australia Post and also outsourcing the administration of the National Disability Insurance Scheme to private health insurance company Medibank Private.